Semiactive Suspension for Military Vehicles

The incorporation of semiactive suspension technology into military vehicles is shown to be a win-win proposition. Extensive test results are presented for five comparable pairs of passive and semiactive suspension equipped vehicle configurations. The cross-country ride and platform stability performance for these 19 metric ton tracked vehicles demonstrates the substantial gains achievable with a semiactive suspension. The test results are augmented with simulation results assessing the respective suspension system power losses and evaluating the performance potential achievable by equipping an M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle with a semiactive suspension system. It is further shown that such a semiactive suspension equipped Bradley will have cross country mobility equivalent to the M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tank.